268 
THE AMERICAN 
from Florida to New York, Chicago and 
even to distant Winnipeg. How is tliis? 
Such fruit had never been heated; it had 
been kept in refrigerators all the time Horn 
Florida to New York in artificial contriv¬ 
ances, while the natural climate from tliere 
on is cold enough to keep what in hot 
weather would not keep over niglit. 
So, also, with fruits from California. Apri¬ 
cots, Nectarines and Peaches, wliich are 
very tender and perisliable, come througli 
sound and in good condition. I have seen 
them as far east as New York and Boston. 
In the first place the fruits grown in Cali¬ 
fornia were carefully cultivated. Owing to 
climatic causes, they have received no at¬ 
tacks from insects. AAlieu nearly ripe tiiey 
are carefully gathered, wrapped in paper 
and sent with great care on the journey in 
various directions. Hence, many fruits 
which we despair of growing are sliipped all 
over the country from California. Surely 
we are not maldng use of transportation aud 
this method of marketing our goods. 
A good deal of care must be exerted in 
packing. The half-bushel ckawer used in 
our country, Ohio aud Indiana, is a bad ai- 
rangeineiit. No box could be more ingeni¬ 
ously contrived to spoil berries than this one. 
The boxes are rolled over and over and the 
berries made to leak. The quart box or 
baskets packed in an open crate are the best 
contrivances I know of, especiallv for good 
weather or refrigerator ears. I don't mean 
the IMichigan quart box: that is too deep. 
The measure is accurate, but it don't carry 
berries as well. I\ hen placed in the crates 
the aggregate box is so nearly square that 
one cannot tell when it is upside down or 
right side up. A better crate is one built so 
as to obviate this trouble. 
Easpben-ies should be shipped in j)int 
boxes packed in cases containing 24 boxes. 
I have no difficulty in shipping tenderest va¬ 
rieties eOO miles and having them arrive in 
fairly good shape. This couki not be done 
in large packages. 
The crate used in the Eastern .States for 
Peaches is improper. It is ingeniously 
adapted to spoil fruit. The Helaware Peach 
basket is too large for shijq)ingrii)e Peaches. 
The Michigan Peacli basket is a receptacle 
of great merit, but is not quite the thing. 
I would prefer an oblong package like the 
Michigan Grape basket. I'hls will rlo for 
markets near and far. 
The so-<;alled “Pipe Fruit Can ier" is the 
best contrivance for that pui-jjose that 1 Juive 
ever seen. A few days ago I received one 
of these carriers filled with Peaches pir-ked 
three days before they retiched itie. On 
opening the box and removing the fruit I 
found them to be in a state of remai kable 
preservation. On one or two were slight 
bruises, which by examination I readily rac- 
ognized as being matle by falling from the 
tree on which tliey were grown. On one or 
two others some traces of earth wen; visi¬ 
ble, showing that they had been picked oil' 
the ground. We all admired the I'eaehes at 
home, and J liave brought three of themovei- 
here for the inspection of the gentlemen 
present. Of course f chose the lli'inest 
among the smalle,St Peaches. Vou sec that 
they are almost perfect. They wen, picked 
eleven days ago. (The fruit was examined 
and found to be remarkably well pi-escrved.) 
The box is filled with perforated pasteboard 
trays, so arranged by divisions tlnit cac i 
Peach is in a little cell and entirely separated 
from contact with the others. Tlie box hole s 
100 Peaches. The patent is on the ventila¬ 
tion, since the ari'angement of trays is not 
unlike that in the well-known egg cari'ier. 
By p.ackingin this way I believe that Peaches 
could be transported as far as from Michi¬ 
gan to England, and there is no I'eason why 
even more remote distances caunot be 
reached by packing still more securely, as in 
tissue paper or cotton. The crates cost 
about 30 cents each. 
■ It seems desirable to me in shipiiing fruit 
to avoid express companies,-not wholly to 
save expense, but to avoid the almost univer¬ 
sal rough handling and confinement' in hot 
cars. The result of a long experience on 
my point is to avoid express companies. The 
Illinois Central K. K. has furnished us with 
good, well-ventilated cars. I believe they 
are the best ventilated fi-uit cars f ever saw. 
But still it is vei'};- hard for us to shi)) suc¬ 
cessfully during hot weather. Fruits must 
be kept cool, not cold, a temperature of 
about 50°. I have never had any failure in 
using refrigerator cars. The following con¬ 
ditions are worthy of notice. Don't have 
your fruit hot when it is put in the car. 
Have it cool either before or see that it is 
cooled after put in, but bcfoi-e it goes.— 
Sead 1n>j\,re ihe American Fomolor/ical Socieli/. 
FKUIT GEOWING NOT DESIEABLE FOR 
EVEEYBODT, 
It is a wise provision that each member of 
the human family is peculiarly fitted for 
some specialty. Some of our fellows take 
pleasure in rimning engines over iron rails, 
others in mining coal or iron, others in sail¬ 
ing ships, and others' in figuring in offices. 
There are more who have a taste for horti¬ 
cultural pursuits than for any other callino-, 
but horticulture is divided into many de¬ 
partments, each of which is adapted to tlie 
dillercnt tastes and peculiarities of individu¬ 
als. Fruit growing is as dill'erent from or¬ 
dinary farming, as one kind of busine.ss in 
the city is from anothei-. Fruit growing 
calls into use difierent abilities than those 
reijuircd for ordinaiy farming; it requires 
more busine.ss ability, more tact, gi'eater 
pi’omjauess in action, more patience, more 
lierseverance, and a wider range of informa¬ 
tion. 
'J'here has been too much indiscriminate 
advice to undertake frnit growing, and many 
who own large farms have attempted to add 
gcnerid frint growing to their busine.ss of 
farming, dividing their attention between 
the two inirsints. i\Iy ex))erienee would not 
lead me to take such a course as this, for 
fruit growing demands ju'ompt .attention, 
and either the farming or the fruit growim-’ 
would in most ca.ses be neglected, perhaps 
both. Mon; especially is this the ease wilh 
small fruits, for .Strawberries and ltas|)ber- 
ries are ready foi- harvesling at just the time 
when the pain harvest and inlying eom- 
nienees. If yon have several acres of .Straw¬ 
berries and llaspberrles to market, you have 
little time to watch the hay fields, ||,„ 
ripening grain, both of whiidi an; exaetine' 
upon your time and attention. If the farmer 
has a son, who will take (.he entiri; elniro'e ,if 
the fruit department, leaving the rathr.|'’s 
hands free to attend to the fanning, fruit 
oroAvlug may be condueted successfully on 
The same farm. Farm work is exacting and 
demands great attention and diligence, but 
fruit growing demands far more. 
Few farmers are aware of the amount 
of experience required in farming. They 
have been boi'ii and bred on the farm, 
and have accumulated information grad¬ 
ually on the subject of the requirements 
of ordinary crops, the application of fertili¬ 
zers, and the gathering and storing; and they 
do not realize how ignorant they would have 
been on these subjects if called on to manage 
a farm without having had any experience 
whatever. Tliercfore, such men do not ap¬ 
preciate the amount of knowledge necessary 
in fruit culture. It is a fact, that the expe¬ 
rience one lias secured in farming is of the 
gi'catest help in fruit growing. A good 
farmer may be said to have about one-half 
enough experience with which to begin fruit 
growing. 'I’hat is, he would have that ad¬ 
vantage over a novice who has had no expe¬ 
rience in rural aflairs. But the best farmer 
has much to learn before he can grow fruit 
successfull}^ and without danger of failure. 
'Ihc first mistake a farmer would make in 
attempting fruit culture would naturally be 
in the selection of varieties. It requires the 
largest experience to know just what to 
plant in certain localities. If the farmer had 
some experienced friend in his immediate 
locality, on whose advice he could rely with 
coulidence, he might be aided in this regard, 
but usually lie does not appreciate his igno¬ 
rance on the subject, aud, relying upon his 
own judgment, makes serious blunders. It 
requii'cs considerable experience to be able 
to decide which field of the farm to devote 
to certain kinds of fruits, q'he novice is al¬ 
most certain to select the wrong field. While 
an elevated site can almost always be recom¬ 
mended for fruits, the novice will be pretty 
certain to select low, moist, dark-colored 
soil in pi'ctcrencc to the upland. 
It is difficult for the novice to see the im¬ 
portance of giving his plants and trees plenty 
of room. Ill planting, he marks out his 
ground perhaps with an ordinary corn-mark¬ 
er, and as he sets his Easjdierries and Black- 
bcrrie.s in these rows, it ajipears to him that 
Ihree feet and one-half may be ample space. 
He IS not able to look forward in his ima-- 
mation to the time when each Blackberrv 
■;'"l Ihispberry row will cover an expanse of 
seven or 
noht feet space between the rows. It is the 
same with Graiies, and wilh fruit trees gen- 
r ally, nio.st beginners planting these^'too 
ylostdy together. iVhen I began fruit Xow- 
ii""i lam'‘"''ll' '•^member 
. , 'iaspberrics seven feet • 
seemed to me that there was too 
"iieh waste ground between the rows and 
r '■'» 
... ‘'■ispiieiiies. All went very well 
,v iCt'’"';, 
i.i, m^ 1 ear seedlings. Uv ... 
aime in shortening in the liasphm-riesTsnc- 
"f lWrs,but 
wo d I. e b '’r"':'"''"*- '''"<"vi«^»-eonrsc 
"oiiiu have been to have li>n n,. . 
hei wiw.ii I I'hc vacant row 
«">:iU fruit growing is spcctany dcsiniblo 
